Dave Neeleman Philosophy On Serving Secondary Cities Has Changed Since Flying High

Flying High Is An Autobiography On Neeleman In 20014

In 2004, when Flying High was released, the CEO of Jetblue David Neeleman's game plane to service secondary cities, like Worcester, was to have what he though would be af fleet of highly efficient 100 seat Embraer 190's fly to their hub at JFK then connect to any other destination on the JetBlue route map.

Flash forward to 2018.
2018 Part 1: That is exactly what we got, but it has failed. Why????

Some of the reasons can be blamed on Worcester/Massport. First the schedule of only one turn departing very early and returning late simply does not work. Second, us not have a mechanic on duty for the early morning departure has led to longer then necessary delays turning people off. Lastly, we have had no marketing plan.

Some of these mistakes can be shared with JetBlue; for example, the schedule and marketing. The bigger mistake, however, was the the Embraer simply has not been as efficient and has resulted in much higher costs per seat to operate then expected. Not to mention poor reliability.

2018 Part 2: Dave Neeleman has a new plan to service secondary cities, like Worcester, with point to point service. Why has it changed so dramatically??

The answer is that this time Neeleman has committed to 60 Airbus A220-300s, not them Embrear 190. He feels the costs are so much lower to operate this plane that he can destroy any from a secondary sity through a hub!! From his Conde Nast Interview

"We’re just going to be more efficient. Today, people living in a lot of these small cities have to connect through hubs if they want to fly anywhere, and the cheapest fare is like $400 or $500. We can do it for $100 each way. We’ll get you there in an hour and a half instead of three-and-a-half hours. The reason is just the way their [the legacy airlines'] structure is set up today—they don’t have the nonstop service to those smaller markets, so they don’t really price for those customers...

At the same time he realizes that there may not be a demand to fly every day point to point for some secondary cities and will only have two or three flights per week, like Allegiant does. On the other hand, if the demand is there he will fly point to point every day. His prior secondary to hub business plan is contingent on mulitple daily flights to a hub.

The "X" factor now as it was in 2004 is the plane itself. Will this Airbus produce as promised or will it be another Embraer 190??? If he is right about this plane, however, Moxy will own this market since there is no competition except maybe Allegiant??

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